ASIAN GAMES 2018 R16 – Ginting’s sweet revenge

Performing under big support of thousands of home supporters, Anthony Ginting finally took sweet revenge over his big rivals Kento Momota.   Meanwhile, Japan failed to place any representatives in the men’s doubles quarter-finals.

Story: Naomi Indartiningrum, Badzine Correspondent live in Jakarta
Photos: Raphael Sachetat  / Badmintonphoto (live)

Another revenge story happened at the 2018 Asian Games.  Anthony Sinisuka Ginting (pictured right) finally managed to end the journey of Japan’s Kento Momota.  Ginting only required just two 21-18 games to send the #2 seed packing.

The appearance of this world #12 player deserves a thumbs up.  Momota’s defense is well-known and difficult to penetrate but then Ginting finally managed to break in through his tenacity and patience.

“Before entering the court, my strategy was to take the first game.  In the second game, some of my returns went out, so I was a little hesitant.  Then I tried another strategy to take the attack initiative from the front area,” said Ginting after the match.

Ginting did not expect to win in straight games against the 2018 world champion because several of Ginting and Momota’s previous matches ended only after battles of long duration.

“In the first game, I lost the wind while in the second game I tried to implement a long rally game.  But it turns out my opponents actually attacked a lot and I was under a lot of pressure and unable to control the wind properly,” said Kento Momota (pictured left).

“I felt less prepared for this individual event.  I guess I’m sad that I only finished in the last 16 at this big event.  For the next, I will prepare myself again to be stronger in the future, to reach a bigger dream than this,” he added.

This victory also became Ginting’s first victory over Momota in 2018.  In the quarter-finals, Ginting will face Chen Long, 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympic gold medallist from China.

Chen Long, too, won in two games but he had all kinds of trouble against Momota’s successor as World Junior Champion, Heo Kwang Hee of Korea.  Heo lost the first one narrowly and was then trailing 10-16 in the second game but pulled to within two before Chen Long finally put it away.

No more chance for Japan’s men’s doubles

Another surprise was made by the relatively unsung Malaysian duo, Ong Yew Sin / Teo Ee Yi (pictured right).  They defeated the world #3 and World Championship runners-up Takeshi Kamura / Keigo Sonoda (pictured bottom), needing only 38 minutes to win the match in straight games.

From the beginning of the match, the world #25 played a disciplined and attacking game.  The Japanese pair were not even given a chance to develop the game strategy that they are known for and their dream of Asian Games gold ended even before the final eight.

“We took the control from the first game and tried not to give any chance for them to attack.  I’m so satisfied that our strategy was effective,” Ong Yew Sin said after the win.

“As the seeded pair, they must have pressure to perform well but here we just play without any pressure.  We just played our usual strategy and stayed positive until the end.  We want to continue the momentum to deliver a medal for our country,” he added.

The Malaysian  pair will be facing the pair host Fajar Alfian / Muhammad Rian Ardianto, who won against Kim Won Ho / Seo Seung Jae of South Korea.  The other host representatives and title favourites Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo / Marcus Fernaldi Gideon (pictured) are also in the quarter-finals as they defeated Japan’s other men’s doubles pair, Takuto Inoue / Yuki Kaneko.

Inoue / Kaneko were forced to go home early after losing the rubber game 18-21.  This Japanese pair has never won over Sukamuljo / Gideon.  With this result, the Japanese men’s doubles did not place any representatives in the quarter-finals.  Malaysia and Indonesia are the only two teams with two pairs in the men’s doubles quarter-finals but Malaysia’s other pair, Olympic silver medallists Goh/Tan, are the ones who will be facing the top-seeded Indonesians.

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